Hispanic folk medicine is based on the idea that some diseases are "hot," while others are "cold." Disease is caused by imbalances in temperature, and to maintain good health, you should avoid extreme temperatures. Constricted blood vessels and low metabolism are associated with "cold" diseases, and dilated blood vessels and high metabolism characterize a "hot" disease. Diabetes is considered a "hot" disease and is therefore treated with "cold" remedies to provide balance.
Diabetes
Although there are many folk treatments for diabetes in traditional Hispanic medicine, most people use traditional medications as their primary line of defense. This is often supplemented by the use of folk medicine although the curanderos, or folk healers who encourage consultation with doctors before treating diabetics.
Folk Treatments
Nopal cactus, aloe vera juice and bitter gourd are frequently used as supplemental treatments, according to Medscape.com. Although these remedies have not been fully tested, there is some evidence that both nopal and bitter gourd help reduce blood glucose levels. Nopal is high in fiber, a trait known to help blood glucose stabilization. Bitter gourd is believed to have some properties similar to insulin.
Herbal Remedies
Rice University reports that maturique root, a rare herb, is often infused in water and given to someone with extreme high blood glucose for a week to bring blood glucose down. After that trumpet flower, brickle bush or sage are used to help maintain normalized blood sugars, and all three can be made into a tea. Sage tea can cause seizures and may cause mental deterioration if taken over a long period of time.
The safety of maturique, trumpet flower and brickle bush has not been studied sufficiently for side effects to be known. Aloe vera juice is safe, but care must be taken to avoid the pulpy latex that can cause vomiting.
